Church transferred child abuse priest to Disney World

Rev. Edward George Ganster left the priesthood in 1990 after at least three victims came forward with abuse allegations. Then, the Catholic Diocese of Allentown [in Pennsylvania] wrote him a letter that secured him a job at Disney World.

The man, Edward Ganster, left the church in 1990, married and moved to Orlando where he joined Disney. He worked there for 15 years as a train driver.

In 1971, Ganster was ordinated as a priest. At the end of the 1970’s, a woman complained to him about sexual abuse of her 13-year-old son. Ganster received guidance and continued his work as a priest.

When Ganster had stopped a long time as a priest, two further charges were brought against him. A man said he was abused by Ganster as a 14-year-old and a mother told her story about abuse of her 12-year-old son.

The church recommended Ganster to Disney World, even though in internal church correspondence he was called ‘one of our worst child abusers’. The report says that abuse victims became drug addicts or died prematurely. It wants to make non-disclosure agreements with the church, legal now, illegal.

Six Roman Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania covered up sexual abuse by 301 “predator priests” over 70 years, according to a damning report that identified as many as 1,000 victims.